Lucas Moraes rose from 8th to 5th overall in the race. The driver led for part of the day, until the rear brakes ran out and a tire went flat with just 30km of the 397km timed course to go
Brazilian Lucas Moraes was one of the main protagonists on Tuesday (7), during the third stage of the Dakar Rally, held between the regions of Bishá and Al Henakiyah, in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Partnered by Spanish navigator Armand Monleón in the TGR team's Toyota GR DKR Hilux, Moraes lost the lead around 100km into the day's 397 timed stages when his rear brakes stopped working. After that, he was further hampered by a flat tire 30km from the finish, which forced the duo to stop and replace it. Even so, the duo finished in ninth place in Tuesday's special and, as a result, climbed from eighth to fifth in the overall standings. Moraes and Monleón are competing in the Ultimate category, the main category of the competition, which is currently led by South African duo Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings in the overall standings.
South African driver Saood Variawa and Frenchman François Cazalet, aboard a Toyota from the TGR team, won the special. At the age of 19, Saood is the youngest stage winner in the history of the Ultimate category. Even though it was shortened by 169km by the organizers due to the storms that hit the region at this stage of the year, Tuesday's special (timed section) was demanding, particularly due to the rocky terrain that prevailed for long stretches. And the challenge proved complicated right from the start: as early as kilometer 12, the Dacia SandRider of multi-time rally champion Sébastien Loeb (France) and his navigator, Fabian Lurquin (Belgium), overturned when passing over a depression, spinning twice before coming to a halt on all four wheels. The accident delayed the French driver, one of the main favorites, by several minutes. He later stopped for repairs again due to a broken steering rod - probably as a result of the violence of the rollover. Yesterday, a similar accident took the Ford Raptor of the reigning champions, Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, out of the race.
Brazilian didn't know he was the leader - Despite the problems he faced, Lucas Moraes was satisfied with his performance on Tuesday. “This special started very well for us. We knew we were going at a good pace because we passed some cars right at the start and we knew we should be doing well. It was only after the finish that we saw that we were leading,” said Lucas Moraes.
“We started to lose our brakes with 100km to go. From then on, we kind of went for the 'survive' strategy, just getting the car to the end. But we still had a flat tire about 30km from the finish. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that we're fifth overall, only 18 minutes behind the leader, I think. So it's all in the balance, a really interesting race. Tomorrow sees the start of the marathon, which has two stages, on Wednesday and Thursday. We're in a great position to start this kind of special. We're going all out!” he added.
Accelerating off the beaten track - As well as Moraes in fifth place in the overall standings and in contention for a podium in this, the 47th edition of the Dakar, Brazil has representatives in two other Ultimate cars. Marcos Moraes and Maykel Justo are driving partners in a Toyota Overdrive. The duo was one of the last to start and, as a result, faced more difficulties than usual: “We had to pass trucks, UTVs... and on several occasions we had to leave the track a lot to overtake because the dust was huge, you couldn't see anything,” said Marcos, who finished in 24th place in the stage and climbed two positions in the overall standings, now occupying 26th place. The Century CR7 of Brazilian Marcelo Gastaldi and Frenchman Adrien Metge faced problems for the second day running. It was the 47th car to cross the finish line and is now 34th overall.
The fifth Brazilian name in this Dakar, navigator Cadu Sachs is competing in the Challenger category (light prototypes) aboard a Taurus T3 Max together with Portuguese driver Gonçalo Guerreiro. On Tuesday, they finished seventh and with the result maintained their second place in the category. The frontrunners in Challenger are Argentinians Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini, also in a Taurus T3 Max. In the other categories, the lead hasn't changed either: Australian Daniel Sanders, in a KTM, continues to lead the Motorcycle category, while Czech trio Martin Macik/Frantisek Tomasek/David Svanda, in an MM Powerstar, continue to lead the Truck category.
Terror for the tires - This Wednesday will be a special moment in the Dakar, with the opening of the “marathon phase”, made up of two stages, the fourth (held tomorrow) and the fifth, on Thursday. During these two days, drivers and navigators will not be able to receive help from the teams and will sleep in a separate camp from their teams, made up of collective tents. However, the crew of one car will be allowed to help another from the same team if necessary.
This way, mechanics and engineers will only have access to the vehicles on Thursday night. “We know that most of tomorrow's 415km timed route will take place between canyons and will have a volcanic rock surface. A terror for the tires,” said Moraes, who has already stopped with flat tires on three occasions in this Dakar - and knows that there will be more to come.
Source: BestPR
Photo: Alen Milavec
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